Brazilian Researchers Develop Material that Kills COVID-19
The Brazilian research team invented a new textile material that can remove SARS-CoV-2, the virus that transimits the new coronavirus in two minutes.
Foreign media said that a research team of a Brazilian start-up company has recently developed a new textile material that can eliminate novel coronavirus on its surface in as little as two minutes, 99.9% effective, which is expected to be used to make medical masks and protective clothing.
According to a report by Buenos Aires Economic News Network in Argentina on June 17, researchers from the Institute of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, supported by scientists from the University of Jaime I in Spain, have developed a new textile material blended with polyester and cotton fabrics impregnated with two different silver microparticles.
This project is researched and developed by a technology startup founded by researchers from the University of São Paulo. Researchers from the Functional Materials Development Center (CDMF) in São Paulo State also participated in the project.
This newly developed material will be used to make medical masks and protective clothing for doctors and hospitals by Nanox, a start-up company that is committed to developing antibacterial fabrics and fungicides.
Luiz Gustavo Dias Pagoto Simmons, head of Nanox, said: "We have applied for a patent for this technology and are currently negotiating with two Brazilian textile companies. Once agreed, the two companies will use the technology to make medical masks and protective clothing. "
The report said that the test conducted by researchers showed that the fabric soaked with silver microparticles could inactivate 99.9% of the virus after only two minutes of organic contamination of its surface.
Lucio freitas Ru Niol, a researcher at the USP and one of the leaders of the study, said: "The amount of virus that we used to pollute the fabric during the test was much higher than that in the environment where the medical masks were exposed. Even in this case, this new material was able to remove viruses with great efficiency. "
Researchers are still testing the duration of the antiviral effect of this fabric. As a reference, the antibacterial ability of other materials developed by the company can last up to 30 washes.
"This fabric is the first to be researched and developed using silver microparticles to inactivate COVID-19, but we may soon have several others," Simmons said.